Esterhazy knew better than anyone just how greedy Archduchess Sophie was for power, and how loath she was to let it go.
In 1848, she had been the one who, in place of her feeble husband, made her son emperor and saved the empire from crisis. She considered herself the empire’s sole guardian.
Having her authority affirmed through the ladies-in-waiting was a wise move.
‘Her Highness the Archduchess never reveals herself directly.’
From Archduchess Sophie’s perspective, Sisi was not merely a daughter-in-law, but a potential rival.
If the Empress were to create her own power base in the Empress’s Palace and begin exerting influence over the Emperor, Sophie knew she would truly have no choice but to retire to the back room.
Esterhazy looked at the Empress, who still seemed innocent.
Looking at the dresses held by the ladies-in-waiting, the Empress pondered which one to wear today, appearing just like a girl her age.
‘The drawback that her emotions show is still there, but… sometimes that can actually make things easier.’
If it had been an event where the usual solemn bearing had to be displayed, as a subject, she would have reminded her of proper etiquette. But if, at a salon, the Empress appeared too steeped in politics, they would not let their guard down; instead, Esterhazy thought, they would likely move with greater caution.
“I’ll wear this one today.”
The Empress chose a dress.
A late Empire-style dress that gave off an air of freedom.
Esterhazy nodded inwardly and gave an order to the ladies-in-waiting.
“Go to Her Majesty’s drawing room and check the final preparations needed for the salon.”
It was a signal that the Empress and Esterhazy wished to speak alone.
When the others had left, only the two of them remained.
“Do you remember who has been invited today?”
Esterhazy began the final check. If the Empress were to make even a small mistake, it could have a negative effect on Sisi.
“Eduard von Bauernfeld and Johann Strauss II. Those two are supporters of constitutional monarchy and wish to see freedom of the press and the arts guaranteed. The Archduchess’s power comes from the Emperor’s absolute authority. They are artists who will undermine that foundation, yes?”
Esterhazy nodded and waited for the next names to be spoken from the Empress’s lips.
“The Duke of Teschen, Archduke Albrecht, Archduke Maximilian, Archduke Karl Ludwig, Archduchess Maria Anna, and Archduke Ludwig Viktor. Among them, the people we must recruit are Archduke Maximilian and Archduke Albrecht, if I remember correctly.”
Archduke Albrecht and Archduke Maximilian were not dissatisfied with the system; they were dissatisfied with Sophie.
Albrecht opposed Sophie’s continued interference in military affairs, while Archduke Maximilian, being a pro-French figure influenced by liberalism, stood in opposition to Sophie.
Esterhazy added one last person.
“Baron Rothshilt. He is dissatisfied because he fears the Archduchess may ruin the economy.”
Sisi held the name Rothshilt on her tongue for a moment.
“Rothshilt, Rothshilt… Rothschild?”
Esterhazy nodded at Sisi’s reaction and explained the Rothshilt family.
“They are a Jewish family, but they wield immense influence through a family network that extends across all of Europe. When Erste Bank turned its back on Her Highness the Archduchess, they immediately founded Creditanstalt Bank, and the force currently maintaining neutrality between those two banks is the Rothshilt family.”
As if she had realized something, Sisi opened her eyes wide and said,
“The Rothschild family!”
“That is what they are called in Britain.”
To Sisi, the name Rothschild carried a weight unlike that of an ordinary European banker.
‘You should have said Rothschild from the start.’
The leading name in conspiracy theories, always introduced alongside Jewish conspiracies.
‘Though, with what I know, it’s only about on the level of the Freemasons.’
Sisi thought she should use this opportunity to have a conversation with the Rothschild family in search of a new source of funds.
***
Whew.
I took a deep breath and stood before the door.
Unlike Archduchess Sophie’s gloomy, oppressive audience chamber, this place was dazzlingly splendid.
The walls and ceiling were enveloped in lavish white and gold Rococo ornamentation; an enormous Bohemian crystal chandelier reflected that light into thousands of fragments; and chairs upholstered in red velvet were scattered like islands, arranged less for hierarchy than for intimate conversation.
Or so Esterhazy explained.
I suppose that meant I should continue doing things this way from now on.
At my side, Esterhazy whispered the final briefing.
“Your Majesty, remember. You must not try to do everything as Archduchess Sophie does.”
I nodded slightly and glanced sideways at Esterhazy.
Not a performer, nor a conductor, but an audience member and patron who evaluated them.
Esterhazy checked the guest list from across the room, then gave me the faintest of nods.
When she signaled to the attendant with her eyes, the doors of the salon closed soundlessly.
The piano music that had been flowing just moments before, the murmur of conversation, and even the clinking of glasses all ceased.
A moment later, the doors were thrown wide open again.
The attendant stepped one pace over the threshold and struck the floor audibly with the staff in his hand.
“Her Majesty the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary enters!”
No sooner had that cry ended than everyone in the room paid their respects in unison.
It’s similar to the tea party. It’s been a while.
The difference, however, was that unlike then, I was the highest-ranking person present, and this was a salon I had organized.
At the tea party, when I spoke Hungarian, even Sophie had been criticized, but now, that could not happen.
Slowly sweeping my gaze around the room, I took my first step inside just as I had practiced.
Archduke Albrecht… is that man over there?
When I approached his side, he immediately lifted his head. When meeting the Duke of Teschen for the first time, what did people usually say? His father, Archduke Karl, the hero of the Napoleonic Wars?
I opened my mouth in a playful tone.
“Your Highness, I heard there is a waltz you have been saving especially for tonight.”
With those words, everyone in the room began to move again.
I made a light gesture toward Johann Strauss II, who was playing the piano. As he began to play, I exchanged some casual conversation.
“Most waltzes these days are rather similar, are they not?”
“Exactly. Everyone is far too busy observing formalities.”
As I traded light jokes with Albrecht, I saw the faintest smile pass over his face.
“You have a free spirit.”
I knew this was a political setting, but I did not want to create a situation that would draw Archduchess Sophie’s suspicion.
“With such wonderful music before us, wouldn’t it be rather rude if our court remained too quiet?”
Today, my concept was that of an artistic Empress who loved music and disliked suffocation.
The ladies-in-waiting here would become my eyes and ears and find out what they had said.
He looked at Esterhazy behind me, then said to me,
“May I grant the others an opportunity to have an audience with Your Majesty as well?”
It seems he has already made his judgment of me.
“Of course.”
After confirming that Archduke Albrecht had withdrawn politely, I immediately looked for my next target in the room.
Josef’s younger brother, and the son Sophie cherished most.
The reason Josef disliked Maximilian was practically Sophie’s fault. Josef had been her duty as emperor, while Maximilian had been her joy as a son.
I spotted him in one corner of the room, engaged in a heated debate with Bauernfeld. Though he wore a firm military uniform, he did not have the unnatural stiffness felt from the other nobles. His lively expression and animated gestures revealed a temperament clearly different from Josef’s.
When I approached him, those conversing briefly faltered and paid their respects.
“Please continue. It seems to be a very interesting subject.”
I held out my hand to Maximilian, and he responded as if he had been waiting. Lightly kissing the back of my hand, he looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“It is an honor. I did not know Your Majesty was interested in theater as well.”
“Of course.”
I struggled to draw out the information Esterhazy had given me from my mind.
“When I saw a performance at La Scala in Milan, I saw traces of Your Highness there and thought I would like to speak with you someday.”
The humiliation I had suffered at La Scala came to mind, and for a moment I nearly failed to manage my expression, but I forced up the corners of my mouth.
When the subject of La Scala was brought up, Maximilian spoke as if searching through his memories.
“It was my finest achievement. The passion of the artists I met during my travels was extraordinary as well. But…”
He trailed off. In Archduchess Sophie and Josef’s eyes, his liberal style of governance had continued to be an eyesore, and in the end, even his patronage of La Scala had been forbidden.
“I love beautiful things.”
I asked the attendant for wine and spoke in a low voice.
“And I always watch new things with interest. I was greatly influenced by my father, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. Vienna’s waltzes are splendid, but how was the air of Paris?”
A deep smile settled on his lips.
“As Your Majesty says. New air, new ideas… and new art to contain them, along with a beautiful Empress’s dress.”
Praising my dress, he took one step closer.
“Of course, nothing is as beautiful as Your Majesty’s dress. Your Majesty’s salon is the most breathable place I have found in Vienna.”
“…”
This bastard…?
I took half a step back and snapped open the fan in my hand. The barrier created by the fan pushed him back by exactly the distance he had approached.
An instinct that had not awakened in a long time rose up and protected me.
I exist as a woman only within the frame of being Josef’s Empress. I do not wish to appear as a woman to anyone else.
“Yes, sometimes one does need a place where one can breathe.”
I appreciated being told I was more beautiful than Eugénie, but I did not want that turning into a scandal. The Emperor—no, let’s say that much could happen. Even so, making advances on your sister-in-law?
Maximilian blinked his wide eyes a few times, then slithered past it like an old fox.
“Seeing Your Majesty’s salon, I felt for a moment as though I had become the boatman of the Lorelei.”
Was the Lorelei Maximilian spoke of beauty, or destruction? Or perhaps both.
He naturally introduced the man who had been conversing with him.
“Would you be so kind as to hear Bauernfeld’s words as well?”
I lightly covered my lips with my fan and offered only a smiling glance.
“Of course. I have heard he is one who leads the trends of the empire.”
I understood your intention, and you understood my warning, so let us leave it at that.